Lab 6

Coming into the last day, I was probably more nervous than any other day by far. I was the closer for the last day at St. Mary's. I wanted to leave a lasting impression on the children and let them know how much of a pleasure it was being there. I decided to do the hokie pokie for the children. I felt it was still a popular song and I wanted to go out with a bang. Since I was the closer, I stepped to the middle of the gym, like it was a pitcher's mound and I was Mariano Rivera in the 9th inning with two outs and the world series on the line. Everything worked out great. The ending was amazing, the children, my peers and I had a blast doing it and I was honored to be selected as the closer for the last lab of the year. TX

What I learned about young people is that a simple activity could be transformed into a great challenge for young mind. I’ve seen that a game in which children would normally see as stupid and boring, be such a big hit for them and they play the activity for a while. I’ve learned that talking to them in their language and at their level helps the children better understand where you are coming from and a connection can be made between you and the child. Some games that I felt was appropriate were four corner soccer, stinking stew, endless bucket and the obstacle course that were made. I felt that these activities showed the finest motor skills and gave the children the chance to display them the best. In these activities many motor skills like running, jumping, skipping, hopping etc. were implemented and the most important part the children had a great time. The activities that I believed to be inappropriate were guard the castle. I thought the game would be a very fun and safe game where the children was going to aim for the cone and try to knock it down, but it almost turned into a dodge ball game and safety precautions had to be implemented. It started off great with the children not trying to hit each other, but then they got too excited, so the game was switched. The Pre-K was an amazing group. They enjoyed the obstacle courses that were made more than any other activity. While in the gym that is all they wanted to do and on some days make up their own and run through it the whole time. This was different than working with the older children because PRE K weren’t easily tired of an activity, they would play for the duration they were in the gym. Whereas, it took a great game to keep the older children mind focused on playing it for a long time. Regardless of what the game, the PRE K had less children who wanted to seat out and play something else like the older children did. I enjoyed working with the younger age because I have three god children that age and I like to see what motor skills these children can display before they are taught by an instructor. I would love to leave a mark in their lives and be able to show them a mature way to perform a motor skill.